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A vital and living faith produces good works.  By our good works we demonstrate how real our faith is to us.  It is a natural overflowing of gratitude towards the love we have personally experienced.  We realize that we have received in such great abundance and we have so much to share.  Our giving becomes instinctive and the outpouring seamless.  There is no holding back.  This is how our heavenly Father wants to bless us and through us to many – He is able to make all grace abound in us. Realise this: when we do not live in this way, we will undermine the power of God in our lives.  The more we give, the more we will receive.  We are God’s channel of blessing.  As we give, God replenishes.  It is when we hoard that we lose the prospect of receiving.  One Bible commentator says this: “If we had more faith and love, we should waste less on ourselves, and sow more in hope of a plentiful increase.  Can a man lose by doing that with which God is pleased?” God cannot pour His blessing into our teapot if we are not constantly pouring out the tea to others.

The generosity has to well up from our heart and the determination is out of free-will and not under compulsion or obligation.  If it is simply a duty, then there will not be pleasure and gladness for the giver.  God loves a cheerful giver.  The cheer demonstrates a certain joy and delight for we know it brings thanksgiving and praise to God.  Let us not allow our giving to degenerate into a form of duty or routine practice.  But with every giving and good work, we do so with great desire for a torrent of manifold blessing from God.  Therefore our gift must be accompanied with a prayer to receive more grace so that we may abound in even more good works.
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The Lord will enable us in doing good works.  He challenges us to do this to one another in all things and at all times.  When we do not avail ourselves to God’s enabling power, we will burn out and there will be no cheer in service.  Therefore, there must be a total dependency on God’s grace and provision.  He supplies our needs, increases our store of seed and will enlarge the harvest.  He is the Lord of the Harvest.  “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Gal. 6:9).